Ringside Boxing Show: Special Guest Johnathon Banks Walks in Emanuel Steward’s Shoes

Jonathon Banks was just 30 years old and still fighting his own battles in the squared circle when his trainer and mentor, Emanuel Steward, was stricken with colon cancer.
That’s when Banks — who had zero experience as a trainer — was approached by the heavyweight champion of the world, Wladimir Klitschko (also trained by Steward) to step in as his coach while the iconic Hall of Famer recovered.
When asked why he thinks Klitschko sought him out, Banks can only laugh. “Honestly, I have no idea,” he said.
We had a compelling and candid conversation with Klitschko’s trainer on Sunday’s Ringside Boxing Show, during which Banks talked in-depth about the level of intimidation he felt trying to fill the shoes of one of the greatest trainers of all time. Banks also talked to us about his early days at Kronk Gym (where he began training at age 15), the differences between boxing and training, and multiple other topics.

Our interview with Johnathon Banks is preceded by Paul McLaughlin’s report on the UK boxing scene, plus expert analyst from Travis Hartman, Rizwaan Zahid, and John J. Raspanti, who analyze rumors about three exciting match-ups — Wilder-Ortiz, Porter-Garcia, Kovalev-Barrera, and Charlo-Lubin. They also talk about the disturbing personal tailspin of former middleweight king Jermain Taylor.

Dennis Taylor is host of The Ringside Boxing Show, editor/publisher of www.ringsideboxingshow.com, and co-author (with John J. Raspanti) of “Intimate Warfare: The True Story of the Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward Boxing Trilogy,” which is currently on Amazon’s Bestsellers list.

Ringside Boxing Show: Special Guest Johnathon Banks – The Grueling Truth The Grueling Truth Radio